BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Sophomores
Dom LaJoie and
Ben Darmstadt qualified for the NCAA Tournament and five members of the Cornell wrestling team advanced to the semifinals during Session II of the 116th EIWA Championships on Friday night. Cornell sits in third place with 68.5 team points, behind Lehigh (85.5) and Army (73.5). The Big Red brings the third-most semifinalists (5) and second-most wrestlers overall (9) into Saturday.
Dom LaJoie punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships with a gritty quarterfinals victory over Drexel's Antonio Mininno in tiebreakers. LaJoie and Mininno were tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and after a scoreless sudden victory period headed to ride outs. Strong on top, LaJoie rode Mininno for the entire 30 seconds, and was awarded a point for Mininno's third false start to lead 3-2. Mininno opted for a neutral start in the second tiebreaker, which gave LaJoie a 4-2 lead. LaJoie will face Columbia's Joe Manchio in the semifinals.
Chas Tucker got his first action of the day in Session II, cruising to a 7-3 win over Columbia's Angelo Rini. Tucker will face Casey Cobb of Navy in the semifinals.
Noah Baughman was the first Big Red wrestler to drop a match today, falling to Navy's Cody Trybus by major decision, 8-0.
A 12-1 major decision sent
Hunter Richard to the semifinals at 149 pounds. Richard defeated Bucknell's Matt Kolonia for the second time this season, this time improving his result to a major. He'll meet Lehigh's Jimmy Hoffman in the semifinals tomorrow.
Adam Santoro was pinned late in his quarterfinal match against Drexel's Parker Kropman, getting sent to the consolation bracket.
Dropping a narrow 2-0 match in the quarterfinals was
Milik Dawkins, losing to Navy's Tanner Skidgel.
Brandon Womack also dropped from the championship bracket in the quarterfinals, losing a 5-3 decision to Drexel's Michael O'Malley.
Ben Darmstadt got Cornell back into the semifinals at 197 pounds, pinning Penn's Cole Urbas in 1:28. Darmstadt will face Army's J.T. Brown in the semifinals. Brown is a former high school teammate of Darmstadt's at Elyria High School in Elyria, Ohio.
Brendan Furman made it five Big Red wrestlers in the semifinals following an upset victory over No. 2-seeded Ben Sullivan of Army, 3-1.
Baughman, Santoro, Dawkins and Loew all picked up consolation victories in the second consolation round of eight, while Womack was the lone member of the team eliminated from competition.
Action will resume tomorrow, Saturday, March 7, at 10 a.m. for Session III. Session III includes the championship semifinals, third round consolations, consolation semifinals, and first, third, fifth and seventh place bouts. The Championship Finals will begin at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Dom LaJoie (125 – 2-0)
First Round: winner by decision vs. Logan Treaster (Navy), 4-2
Quarterfinals: winner by decision vs. Antonio Mininno (Drexel), 4-3 (TB-1)
Semifinals: vs. Joe Manchio (Columbia)
#5 Chas Tucker (133 – 1-0)
First Round: Bye
Quarterfinals: winner by decision vs. Angelo Rini (Columbia), 7-3
Semifinals: vs. Casey Cobb (Navy)
Noah Baughman (141 – 2-1)
First Round: winner by major decision vs. Gerard Daly (Sacred Heart), 16-3
Quarterfinals: defeated by major decision vs. Cody Trybus (Navy), 8-0
Consolation of 8 #2: winner by decision vs. Jimmy Pawelski (Brown), 4-0
Consolation of 4: vs. Wilfredo Gil (Franklin & Marshall)
Hunter Richard (149 – 2-0)
First Round: winner by major decision vs. Andrew Garr (Columbia), 13-5
Quarterfinals: winner by major decision vs. Matt Kolonia (Bucknell), 12-1
Semifinals: vs. Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh)
Adam Santoro (157 – 2-1)
First Round: winner by decision vs. Kyle Mosher (Columbia), 7-3
Quarterfinals: defeated by fall (6:17) vs. Parker Kropman (Drexel)
Consolation of 8 #2: winner by decision vs. Holden Heller (Hofstra), 9-7
Consolation of 4: vs. Jack Stanton-Taddeo (Navy)
Milik Dawkins (165 – 2-1)
First Round: winner by decision vs. Brian Meyer (Lehigh), 3-1 (SV-1)
Quarterfinals: defeated by decision vs. Tanner Skidgel (Navy), 2-0
Consolation of 8 #2: winner by decision vs. Emmett LiCastri (Franklin & Marshall), 9-3
Consolation of 4: vs. Richard Stamm (Hofstra)
Brandon Womack (174 – 1-2)
First Round: winner by fall (1:46) vs. Crew Fullerton (Franklin & Marshall)
Quarterfinals: defeated by decision vs. Michael O'Malley (Drexel), 5-3
Consolation of 8 #2: defeated by decision vs. Anthony Wokasch (American), 6-5
#25 Jonathan Loew (184 – 2-1)
First Round: winner by major decision vs. Dan McClure (Long Island – Post), 8-0
Quarterfinals: defeated by major decision vs. Tanner Harvey (American), 15-4
Consolation of 8 #2: winner by decision vs. Kyle Davis (Sacred Heart), 10-7
Consolation of 4: vs. Kyle Inlander (Bucknell)
#4 Ben Darmstadt (197 – 2-0)
First Round: winner by tech fall vs. Sam DePrez (Binghamton), 16-1 (4:26)
Quarterfinals: winner by fall (1:28) vs. Cole Urbas (Penn)
Semifinals: vs. J.T. Brown (Army)
Brendan Furman (285 – 2-0)
First Round: winner by decision vs. Vincenzo Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall), 5-2
Quarterfinals: winner by decision vs. Ben Sullivan (Army), 3-1
Semifinals: vs. Jordan Wood (Lehigh)
